Brit beauty Gemma Atkinson who was dating the soccer star is now romancing the Indian actor and hoping to make a career in Bollywood

Following turns in British TV shows Hollyoaks, Casualty and Emmerdale, actress-model Gemma Atkinson whose claim to fame was dating soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007, is now taking baby steps into Bollywood.

But when director Rajeev Jhaveri reached out to her for his upcoming thriller, Fever, she thought it was a joke. She now hopes to make a lasting career in B'town.

She's kicked about working with Rajeev Khandelwal. "It's an honour to say that Rajeev Khandalwal was my first leading man in Bollywood. I'd love to work with him. It'd be better the second time around because I know how he works," she smiles admitting that she's only seen clips of Hindi songs and dances. "They are magical! The women are so beautiful and the men so handsome. I was taught a little bit of it after wrap-up and want to learn more," she admits. She plays Rhea in Fever who's both sexy and confident but also vulnerable and victimised and hates the fact that she's involved with a contract killer. Turns out, the only prep she needed was to learn Hindi. "I had a tutor who visited daily for two weeks before I flew out to Switzerland. It was hard and made me doubt myself but both the Rajeevs would calmly help me with the lines," she says.

Did the intimate scenes make things difficult too? "They're always uncomfortable as you have about 20 crew members on the sets. The outcome always looks sexier than it is but Rajeev was extremely professional and our wardrobe team ran in between takes to cover us up," she laughs.

Also on Gemma's wishlist is visiting India. "My late father used to travel to India for work and always praised its people, culture and food."

Quiz her on Ronaldo who's hoping to lead Portugal to victory in the ongoing Euro 2016 and she points out that after 15 years in showbiz, she's learnt to keep her relationships private.

"It's just between us, I never discuss my past or my present because that way rumours get invented so it's best to say nothing at all," she signs off.